Govt to allocate space for Manmohan Singh’s memorial: MHA

In a late-night development, the central government agreed to designate space for a memorial to former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

This decision came after a heated exchange between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, sparked by the Congress's request for a separate memorial site for Singh's cremation. Initially, the Centre had rejected this request, which led to strong reactions from the Congress, with party leader Jairam Ramesh accusing the government of deliberately insulting India's first Sikh prime minister.

Immediately after the Cabinet meeting on Friday night, 27 December 2024, Union Home minister Amit Shah informed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Manmohan Singh's family that the government would allocate space for the memorial.

In a late-night release titled "Facts of the matter regarding memorial for Former Prime Minister Late Dr Manmohan Singh", the ministry said the government received a request to allocate space for a memorial for Singh from the Congress chief.

The Union Home Ministry clarified that the cremation and other formalities for Manmohan Singh can proceed once a Trust is formed and space is allocated to it. This process is necessary to ensure that the memorial is set up appropriately.

Singh, who headed the Congress-led UPA government and is credited with economic reforms, passed away on Thursday at the age of 92.

He was India's prime minister for 10 years between 2004 and 2014.

The Congress on Friday said that not finding a location for the cremation and memorial of Singh was a deliberate insult to the country's first Sikh prime minister.

The party raised the issue after the home ministry said Singh's last rites would be held at New Delhi's Nigambodh Ghat at 11.45 am on Saturday with full state honours.

With PTI inputs